Here’s the deal: Breaking down Stanford’s recent domination of USC

USC quarterback Matt Barkley, right, stands alone as Stanford celebrates a fumble recovery in overtime to beat the Trojans 56-48 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 2011. Stanford has won the past four games in the Pac-12 rivalry. Photo by Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

USC is a four-point underdog against Stanford on Saturday, which is a 45-point swing from the point spread in the infamous 2007 game at the Coliseum when the Cardinal unbelievably defeated the Trojans.

Since that game, Stanford has lost only once to USC and won the past four games of the series. USC has gone through three coaches in that span while the Cardinal feature the hottest coach in the West in David Shaw and lay claim to being the dominant team in California.

It’s a stunning role reversal from the era when USC lost only three times to Stanford between 1958-90. More recently, Pete Carroll won five straight over the Cardinal from 2002-06.

How did this happen? Why have the Cardinal dominated the Trojans in recent years and beat USC at its own game with a physical style of play that mirrored Tailback U.?

Here are a few reasons for the domination:

Recruiting decisions

Stanford tailback Toby Gerhart punished USC with 178 yards and three touchdowns in the Cardinal’s 55-21 victory in 2009. Former USC baseball coach Mike Gillespie begged Carroll to recruit Gerhart but Carroll declined because he did not want a two-sport star. Instead, Gerhart played both sports at Stanford but settled on football.

Current Cardinal tailback Tyler Gaffney, who rushed for 157 yards in last week’s Oregon upset, was interested in USC but Carroll wanted him to play fullback.

Stanford offensive tackle Kyle Murphy was a natural fit for USC because he was from San Clemente. But Lane Kiffin’s recruiting style turned Murphy off and Murphy did not want to play for the Trojans. Kiffin also lost out at the same time on offensive tackle Andrus Peat, who starts at left tackle.

Murphy and Peat were the same class as USC offensive lineman Zach Banner and Jordan Simmons, who are both out with season-ending injuries. Banner was on the scout team before getting hurt while Simmons barely played. Only Max Tuerk has blossomed for the Trojans from that class.

It should probably be noted that USC was never a serious contender for quarterback Andrew Luck either.

Coaching choices

The rivalry’s best moments were between Carroll and Jim Harbaugh. Besides pulling off the huge upset in 2007, Harbaugh incensed Carroll in 2009 by going for two points with a 48-21 lead with 6:47 to play.

This became known as the “What’s your deal?” game after Carroll grilled Harbaugh when they shook hands at midfield.

What is rarely reported is the ill feelings born from USC’s 45-23 victory in 2008. Harbaugh called a timeout with eight seconds left, prompting Carroll to call a timeout with three seconds left and put the first-team defense back on the field to try to stop Stanford from scoring.

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When each program-changing coach left, the school reacted differently. Stanford replaced Harbaugh with assistant coach David Shaw, who has flourished, gets mentioned for NFL jobs and generally runs a classy program. He is the nephew of former USC player and assistant coach Nate Shaw.

USC hired Lane Kiffin, who was fired earlier this season and was known more for creating controversy and embarrassing the program. Kiffin was fined $10,000 by the Pacific-12 Conference two years ago when he complained about the officiating during Stanford’s 56-49 triple-overtime victory at the Coliseum.

Imagine how different things would be if USC hired Shaw and Stanford hired Kiffin.

Bad luck

Even Kiffin looked like he would beat Stanford in 2010 when the Trojans took a 35-34 lead with 1:12 left. But with 1:15 remaining, the Stanford clock operator failed to start the clock after a USC first down and more than 35 seconds elapsed as the clock stood still.

That allowed Stanford to kick a field goal on the final play of the game and escape with a 37-34 victory. Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott no longer allowed the clock operator to be from the home school because of the incident.

Everything happens in cycles

Perhaps it is just about time the Cardinal won four straight. Legendary coach John McKay was so mad after a victory over Stanford in 1972, he said: “I’d like to have beaten them by 2,000 points. They have no class. They’re the worst winners we’ve ever come up against.”

This prompted the Stanford Daily to run a cartoon the following year that showed USC leading Stanford, 1,992-0, and McKay telling Pat Haden if the Trojans scored on the final play, “We go for two.”